An hour before we landed in Kyoto, my son complained of a fever. Two days later, he was still in bed, nauseated, his fever ranging between 101 and 104. The next day, his fever disappeared…only to reappear with a full-body rash the next day. We were concerned about this rash because we live in the tropics, in a place where mosquito-borne illnesses are common, and we knew the signs of high fever, body aches, and a rash. As soon as I saw it, I thought, this is chikungunya. But it could also be dengue. We needed a hospital.
The Day of The Rash, we had tickets to go by train from Kyoto to Kanazawa, a charming little town on the West coast of Japan. My son wore a mask although we were nearly positive that he wasn’t contagious, since neither disease is airborne. We dumped our luggage in our hotel and high-tailed it to the ER at Kanazawa University Hospital, where what seemed like the entire infectious disease unit, and most of the pediatrics unit, was waiting for us. (How we arranged this appointment is a story that is too long for this post, but tl;dr lots of help from kind-hearted English-speaking medical professionals).
They were, understandably, concerned. If it was dengue, it could spread if he had been bitten by a mosquito at any point after our arrival; it could take days or weeks to recover and require constant monitoring and blood tests. Chikungunya, on the other hand, would mean a much easier recovery, and Japanese mosquitos are not able to carry the disease (the more you know!) So they needed a blood sample, and they needed to send that sample to the lab, and he needed an IV to fight dehydration.
So we did all that. They drew blood, and then hooked up an IV, and wheeled us into a bright, silent, clean room, and we waited. The IV dripped slowly, slowly. I got out my phone, opened the Libby app, and looked for a kids book that was available to borrow immediately. It happened to be Mr. Popper’s Penguins.
The highest praise that I can give for this book is that parts of the story – specifically, where Mr. Popper is on the phone trying to sort out the licensing for his penguins, and the fights between the two pugilistic penguins – had my son literally shaking with laughter, even as he tried to keep his IV tube steady. My other child, bravely facing hours in a hospital room with very few entertainment options, said at the end of each chapter, “Keep reading!”
This is, in short, a perfect read-aloud book. The plot keeps a good pace, the penguins are hilarious, Mr. and Mrs. Popper are kind and earnest, and the dialogue is easy and fun to read.
We read about 70% (!) before we were cleared to leave. The next day we learned that my son did, indeed, have chikungunya, and that we were free to go “enjoy Japan!” This could have been a very different experience if it were not for the excellent team at Kanazawa University Hospital….and Mr. Popper’s Penguins. A+ ratings for both.